Old times
by AWESOME-L'S
Summary: Set in like, princess times. what year is that? Fang's parents tried to get him to fall for Max. But he doesn't years later, she's back and mature. How does he see her now? Try it pleaze.
1. The Rides

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, that's not true. I own a pointy stick, a VERY pointy stick, I might add, for people who don't review…**

I glanced at the old wooden clock. Any minute now, the kids from another royal family would be in here. Oh you don't know do you? Well, I'll just fill you in then. War has broken out in a neighboring country, and Queen Ride has decided that it is not safe for her kids to stay there. So in a moment of utter stupidity my father decided that they could stay with us. The idiot. Anyway, this is not the first time I've met the rides and honestly? I don't like them very much. Especially the older girl Max, when we were younger my parents tried to get me to fall in love with her. As if, she wasn't even my type! The stupid blonde headed bimbo. She was ugly too. Her hair was too stringy and her eyes reminded me of dirt. So now they would be living with me, for who knows how long. I sighed and glanced around. My father was whispering to my mother about something and my grandmother was leaning back in her throne muttering to herself impatiently. That was one perk of being an only child though, you got your own throne. I guess the rides had their own too, but I really couldn't care less.

Just then my father's most valued advisor Jeb B walked into the room.

"Your highness, the children have arrived. They come in one by one then they will be released to their quarters. Youngest first oldest last."

Father nodded, "Send them in."

Jeb nodded and sent some kind of signal to the guard at the door and in walked a young girl about the age of six. She was wearing a pale blue gown, and small ballet flats. A necklace with her name, hung around her neck and her tiara was silver with sky blue gems. Her golden curls fell around her shoulders and her eyes were a bright blue. She walked in and curtsied to each of us individually even me, though when our eyes met for the briefest of seconds I could see plain dislike in them. I sighed, good they hated me too, nothing will be awkward.

"My name is Angel Ride I am six years old. Thank you for letting us stay with you it was very kind." She said, her voice thick and sweet. She stood in the far corner of the room.

Next came another blond kid, he looked pretty much like the girl. Same kind of dress code except he was a boy. He bowed to each of us. Introduced himself as Gazzy Ride, blah blah blah Eight years old and so on. He went to go stand by his sister in the far corner. Next was Iggy, he introduced himself, same age as me, bowed to each of us. Went to go stand in the corner.

Finally a blonde girl walked in. Her thick beautiful hair was braided neatly over her shoulder and she wore a blood red gown that fit her perfectly. It was long and velvet, with embroidery on the bodice. And it had puffy straps that fell off of the sides of her shoulder. Her tiara was Black with rubies in it and her eyes were a soft mud brown. She had a necklace that said her name as well. Max. No way. There must be some kind of mistake, this is not Max ride. Max was an annoying, ugly, dimwitted girl. This was… well, the exact opposite of that.

She cleared her throat not bothering to curtsy or bow to us as her sibling had. "My name is Max Ride. Thank you for your kindness at letting my family stay here, but to be honest I really don't want it." Her voice was strong and confident. "Your generosity is greatly appreciated though and I thank you for extending a helping hand to my family."

My grand mother spoke up then, "Well? Aren't you going to curtsy to us?"

Max narrowed her eyes and looked directly at my grandmother. "I curtsy to show respect, I show respect to people I trust, sadly you have not gained my trust yet I don't expect you to either, it's a very hard thing to gain from me."

Grandmother narrowed her eyes, "Jeb trusts us. You've known him you're entire life, do you not trust his judgment?"

Max sighed, "The last time I trusted someone Jeb trusted, I ended up with my mouth duct taped shut and my hands bound by rope. I do not intend to make that mistake twice."

I heard Iggy snickering in the corner and I glanced at him. Gazzy noticed me watching and glared, since Iggy was blind.

I quickly focused my attention on Max. She was way prettier than before. Meaning, that before, she was the ugliest thing I have every seen, now she was wow. She took my breath away.

"And to make sure that will never happen again I just want to let you know that if any _one_ of your guards lay a hand on my family I will…" I imagined her ending being something like tell my mother or file a report or something along the lines of tattling.

"….Beat them up until they are curled on the floor in a fetal position crying for their mothers."

My grandmother raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

Finally Jeb thought it was time to intervene. "Please excuse Max she's not very…" He struggled for the right word to describe her.

"Ladylike?" My Grandmother suggested glaring icily at max with a glare that would have made even me flinch. But Max was oblivious.

"Well at least I'm not hag like." Max shot back.

My Grand mother gasped. "Did you hear that? She had the nerve to call me a hag! Send her to the dungeon at once!" My mother rolled her eyes.

"Mother please calm down." She said.

"I will not! Get that wretch out of my sight!" She said, seething.

"I may be a wretch but at least I'm a _smart_ wretch." Max said snidely. "Oh and if you want me out of your sight, close your eyes."

"Maximum!" Jeb said sternly, "That is enough."

She turned on him, "Do _not_tell me what to do Jeb. I don't listen to you, or anybody for that matter." She turned back to my family, "I'm sorry if I'm a nuisance but I can't help it. Rules were never good for me, I don't follow them and I never will. Nothing I can do about it."

My mother had cooled my grandmother down and was looking at max with something that looked vaguely like an impressed look in her eyes.

Max turned around to leave when my grandmother spoke again, "Where are you going? Were you dismissed?"

Max turned back around and looked Grandmother in the eye, "Another thing you'll learn about me-- I dismiss myself."

She turned and walked out the room.

My Father looked at the other kids, "You are dismissed." They nodded and followed their older sister out.

"I like her. She would make a very good leader." My mother said, obviously speaking of Max. "Her country will be proud to call her queen when she gets older."

"I agree. She has certain qualities a good leader will need, and is not all about her hair and makeup like the rest of the dimwitted princesses." My Father said.

"Well, I don't like her." My grandmother snapped.

"I don't either." I added. I mean sure, now she was pretty but she still hated me. I'd do her a favor and her hate back.

My mother sighed, "Well the two of you will just have to deal with it, Fang, I want you to go upstairs and tell them what time to be down fro breakfast in the morning."

I groaned but got up and left the room.

*************************************************************************************

I stood outside Max's room door. From here I could hear the four of them laughing and joking around.

I hesitantly knocked on the door. It was opened by the little blonde boy. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"Whoever it is tell them to get a life." I heard Max call from the other side of the huge room.

"I can't Max It's the prince." I heard the boy mutter to her, all the while not taking his eye off of me.

I heard Max snort, "Well then tell him to _royally _get a life." She called again.

"Hey Gazzy, can I talk to your sister?" I said ignoring her comment.

"Max he wants to talk to you." The blonde boy said. Max walked into view. She had changed from her red gown into a silk black thigh length night dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was still braided and her tiara was placed lopsided on her head. She looked good. I could visibly see her perfect legs…

"Yes?" She asked, fake sweetness leaking into her voice.

"Hey, Folks said breakfast at nine archery at eleven and free time to finish unpacking tomorrow for you guys." I said.

She turned to her family, "You guys heard the plan for tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, so for us that means, Breakfast at ten archery at twelve? And spending our unpacking time down at the beach?" Iggy said.

"Bingo." Max said grinning.

The little one called Angel giggled.

Max looked at me, "Is that all?" she asked.

"No, We're having you're welcoming ball tomorrow so be ready." I told her.

She groaned.

"Aw Max c'mon it'll be fun." Angel said bouncing up and down on Max's bed.

"Ange, a formal dance, with people in dresses, and snotty self-centered royalty is not my idea of fun. I'm more of a beat- the- crap- out- of- Iggy- for- fun, kind of girl." Max said.

Iggy laughed, but then he stopped and looked in her direction worriedly, "You wouldn't do that, would you?" He asked, only half joking.

Max shrugged but then told him "No."

"Can I leave now?" I asked. Max narrowed her eyes.

"Please do." She said before closing the door in my face.

"Remind me why he hates us?" I heard Angel ask, probably thinking I left. I put my ear to the door.

"Could have something to do with the fact that the last time we were here I pushed him out of a tree." I heard Max answer. Angel gasped,

"Max!"

"Hey, in my defense he pushed me into the pond out front knowing full well I didn't know how to swim yet."

"Sounds like fun." Gazzy snickered. I could practically see Max rolling her eyes.

"Hold on." Max said. Silence fell in the room. There was something whispered that I couldn't really make out.

"But he is sooo _cute_." I heard Max gush. "Did you see him just now? Standing there all macho and strong…" I heard Max sigh. "And his dark hair. It looks so _soft._ And his eyes! Oh my god, they are like so dark and full of mystery. Don't you think Ange?"

"Totally." I heard Angel reassure Max.

"But there is one thing that I just _love_about him." Max said almost dreamily. I subconsciously noticed that Gazzy and Iggy weren't saying anything which was totally out of character but whatever, hearing Max drool all over me is way better then worrying about where those two losers are.

"What's that?" Angel ask.

"How naïve he is." Max said, matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"I love the fact that he thinks… we're stupid enough not to know he's listening!" I heard Max say, before the door was angrily flung open. I feasted eyes on a very angry looking Princess Max ride.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She snapped.

"Eaves dropping." I answered smirking. I knew she would hate my cocky attitude. "Oh and just so you know, you're cute too." I said before I could stop myself. Oh, god, Where did _that _come from?

I played it off though, with a cocky grin before walking down the hall. Leaving her with her temper flaring.

Once a sufficient distance away from the angry Max I cracked up laughing. Then a new thought hit me. A scary, terrifying horrible thought. A thought that would send King Kong running home to his mommy.

Was I falling for the girl I hated? Was, I, Fang Alton, actually and seriously falling for Maximum Ride?

**A/N Hahahahaha evil cliffy. **


	2. Fangyboy meets psycho father

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, that's not true. I still own that stick…**

I sat in the dining hall with my parents the next morning. Everyone was eerily silent. The rides still hadn't come down yet.

"Fang? What time did you tell them to come down?" My mother asked, her eyes boring down on me.

"Nine." I answered unflinchingly.

It was nine forty five, they were over a half an hour late and my grandmother and parents were beginning to get restless. The rule in the Alton household was that nobody eats until everybody is present at the table but I'm not stupid. I was eating my toast and eggs when no one was looking.

Finally the little blonde one, Angel, skipped merrily into the room.

"Good morning, you highnesses." She said, well, rather angelically. She skipped to her seat and sat down.

"Angel, dear, where are you're siblings?" My mother asked sweetly, it was pretty hard _not_ to be sweet to this little girl.

Angel shrugged, "I believe Max is still sleeping, Iggy's flirting with one of the servants mercilessly and Gazzy I _think_ is racing your dog up and down the fourth floor corridor on the left." She stated matter-of-factly reaching for an apple.

"The oldest is still _sleeping_?_" _Grandmother said.

"Yup." Angel continued loading things onto her plate.

"When, exactly does she plan to have breakfast?" Grandmother asked, I could tell she was seriously starting to become put off with Princess Ride.

"When she wakes up, duh." Angel said, the room fell silent again at Angel's simple answer.

Then our little black dog, Total, raced into the room barking with the young blond boy behind him.

The boy took a seat next to his sister, panting heavily. "Your dog cheats!" He accused, also pulling things onto his plate. I resisted the urge to ask how the _hell_ a _dog_ could _cheat _at _racing_ but I kept my mouth shut.

"Hey, Gazz." Angel greeted, taking a bite of her eggs.

"Hey Ange." He answered happily.

I could see my grandmother visibly seething at the nerve of these kids. They come here, ignore our rules, ignore our schedules and are completely rude and obnoxious.

Next Iggy walked in, a brunette servant with him giggling uncontrollably.

"Alexia? Don't you have duties to tend to?" My mother said, aghast.

Iggy turned and faced her looking at her with his sightless eyes, "My apologies Queen Alton, I have been selfishly keeping Alexia from her work. Please do not be angry with her I simply hadn't thought you'd mind having one servant not on duty."

My mother flushed. Iggy whispered something to Alexia and she ran off still giggling.

He took a seat next to the rest of his family. "Mornin' Ig." Gazzy said through a mouthful of sausage.

Iggy ruffled his hair, "Morning Gazzer."

"Hi Iggy," Angel said sweetly. He smiled, "Hey Ange."

Prince Iggy began loading breakfast onto his plate as well not bothering to greet any of us.

We sat in uncomfortable silence when Iggy finally asked, "Where's Max?"

Angel opened her mouth to reply but Then Max walked the door, looking strong and confident,

"Here, Ig." She said. She looked beautiful in her pale grey gown this morning with her black tiara placed firmly on her head.

"Princess Ride it's nice of you to join us." My father said disapproval clear in his voice.

Max sat down next to Iggy, which happened to be the seat across from mine.

"It's my pleasure to join you." Max stated back simply as she piled things onto her plate.

Finally since everybody was present my family started eating. While I was already finished.

"May I be excused?" I asked politely, it was time for my archery lessons.

"By all means." My Father answered. I got up and surprisingly so did Angel.

But she didn't ask to be excused of course.

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I stood out on the archery field, the young girl, Angel had followed me out here and was perched on a nearby rock watching as I notched the arrow and sent it sailing through the air. It hit the board a centimeter away form the bull's eye. The little girl started clapping gleefully.

"That was great!" She exclaimed, there was a nagging sensation in the back of my mind saying that it was odd she was being nice but I pushed it away.

"You're almost as good as Max!" She squealed, laughing.

"Who's almost as good as Max?" Gazzy said, coming out of the castle with Iggy behind him.

"Fang." Angel answered as I notched another arrow. I pulled back on the bow and let the arrow go.

"Wow." Gazzy said perching himself on the same rock as his sister.

"I thought you guys were eating?" Angel asked.

Iggy shrugged, "We got kicked out, the adults wanted a word with Max."

"Oh. Do you think she'll be alright?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Angel? Are you okay? This is _Max_ we're talking about, if anything the King and Queen will become so put off with her that they'll send her to the dungeon. And even _then_ Max would still find a way to piss 'em off."

Gazzy laughed, "You guys remember the time that Guy told Angel she was using the toy sail boat wrong? And he ended up dangling by his shorts on a tree limb that hung over the nearby Lake?"

Iggy grinned, "Damn right I remember that. That guy was _me_, Gazz."

I couldn't hold back a small quirk of my lips, the thought of Iggy dangling over a lake was just plain hilarious, the thought of Max being the one to do that was even funnier.

"How'd you get down?" I asked curiously.

Iggy scowled, "Gardener helped me." He muttered.

Angel smiled, "Next time don't criticize my awesome sail boating techniques." She said.

"What's this I hear about a sail boat?"

"Max!" Angel hopped off her rock and ran to Max. Max grinned, lifting her and twirling her around making her laugh giddily.

Max put Angel down and picked up a bow and arrow.

"So what about the sail boat?" She asked, notching the arrow with careful precision.

"We were talking about the time you put Iggy in the tree and the gardener had to help him down." Gazzy answered. Max pulled the bow back and let go. The arrow sailed through the air gracefully and hit the board in the direct center of the bull's eye. Impressive.

"Ha, I remember that." She said notching another arrow and hitting the bull's eye yet again.

I felt awkward and out of place, talking to these kids like they were old friends and as if we hadn't made each others child hood years.

"So what'd the 'rents have to say?" I asked her, notching another arrow and not looking at her.

"The usual." She answered shrugging and also notching an arrow.

"Meaning?" I prompted, her family was silent, probably shocked by this somewhat civilized encounter between us.

"You're irresponsible, you need to lead them in the right direction, we have rules here. Blah, Blah Blah."

We both let our arrows go at the same time; they sailed in the hair side by side in perfect harmony both hitting the middle of the bull's eye.

Max smirked, "Not bad."

I rolled my eyes and she grinned. For some reason I liked that I was able to cause that, I was able to make her happy for even the slightest of moments. Okay, that's weird. What was going on with me?

"Don't let them get to you. They're all talk and no _do_." She laughed. A sweet, beautiful sound.

"Thanks for the advice, but I think I got pissing them off down." She said.

"Hey Max!" Angel said grinning evilly.

Max looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah?"

"The ball is tonight!"

Max groaned and rubbed her temples. "Don't remind me." she pleaded.

Angel laughed, "Oh c'mon Max, Nudge and Ella are going to be there!"

Nudge and Ella Ride, princesses in another neighboring country, Max's cousins.

Max rolled her eyes, "Yeah but they're staying here too. You think uncle was going to let them stay back home?"

"They're staying?!" Angel asked.

"Way to spoil the surprise Max." Iggy said sarcastically.

"Whatever Ig, and you know else is gonna be there?" She snapped.

"The twins." The other three Rides groaned.

"Exactly, one night with _them_ is _way_ too much." Max said plopping onto the grass next to where Iggy was sitting,

She looked up at me squinting her eyes because of the sunlight, "Aren't you gonna sit or are you just gonna stand there all day?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes again and plopped down on the grass next to the rock Angel and Gazzy were sharing.

"Who are 'the twins'?" I asked.

"The most annoying cousins we have." Angel said leaning over and plucking a dandelion from the ground.

"They're not really our cousins though; our mothers are just really close."

"And let me tell you, they are _annoying_." Iggy said. "Lissa and Brigid are the only two girls you will ever meet that will give you the urge to run, lock yourself in a closet and never come back out."

I laughed, "They can't be that bad."

Gazzy shook his head, "They're worse. They both have red hair that looks like they dunked their heads in a bottle of ketchup and they have really shrill and squeaky voices and they are _evil_."

Angel nodded in agreement, "Yeah, least time we saw them, they made Max so mad she took their mattresses in the middle of the night while they were sleeping and pushed them so that they were floating in the middle of the lake. They absolutely _hate _water so when they woke up they were freaking out. It was hilarious."

Max got up abruptly, "I'm bored I'm going inside." She said and she briskly walked away.

"Hey uh guys?" I asked, they looked at me. "Why so nice?"

Iggy shrugged, "Well Fangy-boy. To be honest we weren't planning on being nice. It just sorta happened, and you're not all that bad."

I scowled, "Gee thanks."

"No really, but we still don't get why you and Max made each others lives miserable. That is still a mystery to us."

I shrugged, "I guess it was easier to hate each other than be friends. 'Cause at the time our parents were trying to get us to fall in love."

Angel smiled, "Well at least they were smart, you're probably the only guy that can keep up with her. It's really freaking her out at the moment but she doesn't show it." She absently plucked the petals off of the dandelion she was holding, "Well, that's Max for ya."

"Me being able to keep up with her freaks her out?" I asked, surprised.

Gazzy rolled his eyes, "Look dude, we may be being nice but there's a ninety nine point nine percent chance that Max is gonna be harder to befriend. She's overly stubborn."

"And we saw you last night." Iggy added, "Fangy-boy totally has a crush on Maxie."

Angel giggled. "Don't let Max hear you calling her that. She'll rip you to shreds."

Iggy snorted.

"I don't have a crush on her!" I said defensively.

They all rolled their eyes, "A clear case of denial." Angel sighed. "It'd be great if you guys got together, emotionally of course but the other thing well, we'll just have to save Max."

I glanced at her, "What do you mean?"

"You'll see." She shook her small head sadly. "But you're not gonna like it."

I gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head again. Odd.

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I don't like Crowds, so the welcoming Ball for the Rides was a Pain. A complete and utter pain. I weaved through the sea of people greeting and nodding to some old family friends.

"Fang!" My father's voice said, he was sitting on his throne gesturing for me to come over. Thankful that I had an excuse to get away from some random old lady that was pinching my cheeks and telling me how tall I've gotten and what not. I think she was a friend of my grandmother's.

"Yes Father?"

"I have an idea. Listen carefully." He said, "I need you to get the oldest ride to fall for you. That way our two countries can merge and _you_ my son will be the most known King man has even seen. You'll be rich, you'll have a large kingdom, you'll become dominant. We need you to marry her for power, to make us Alton's the most powerful royal family there is. The only family that is competing for that title would be the rides, so you marry a ride and Bingo we've won. Then we get rid of the girl so you're the only one ruling, the only one able to influence the decision. She'll be gone and you'll be good to go. What do you think?"

My eyes widened, No frickin' way.

**A/N like? Love? Hate? Next chapter is the rest of the ball.**


	3. Twin bitches, the talkacholic and a kiss

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but yes, I STILL have that stick.**

I stood there literally gaping at my father.

"So, son what do you think?" He asked again his dark eyes twinkling.

"Uh, father I--" I started but he smiled and gave me a hit on the back obviously thinking that I'd say yes to his little deal.

"That's my boy, now all you've got to do is charm her into falling in love with you, that shouldn't be to hard. I've got to go greet the guests, I'll give you some time to think about how you're going to do so."

He left and I stood there still gaping. What the hell was I getting myself into?

Shaking my head, I weaved back through the crowd to the banquet table to get something to drink.

"Yo Prince Fang." I turned and saw my friends Prince Sam and Prince Jason.

"Hey." I said lifting the cup to my lips.

"So we get to meet miss ride again today?" Jason said, they had both met Max the last time she was here when she was ten. I nodded as two red headed girls popped out of the crowd smiling brightly.

"HI there, you're Prince Alton right?" One of the red heads squealed at me.

I nodded. "OMG see, I _told _you Bri, he _is_ hot!" The first one said.

"Uh, no! _I _told _you_ Liss!" The second one said.

"Uh, not that it isn't nice to see you two arguing but can we please know who you are?" Jason asked impatiently, he didn't like red-heads for some reason they annoyed him.

"Oh, I'm Lissa Hatchet" the first one said, "And I'm Brigid Hatchet." The second one said.

"And we're twins!" they said together. Huh, these were Max's cousins, it was kind of hard to believe that these two over peppy freaks could be related to the rides I knew but whatever.

"Well, hello." Sam said stepping forward. "I'm prince Samuel, but you can call me Sam." He said bowing and kissing their hands, I rolled my eyes as Lissa giggled.

"So you're Max's cousins?" I asked.

They glared, "Sadly, gosh we hate Max, she and her little family is sooo annoying." Brigid said.

"And she thinks she's all that." Lissa added.

"We hate her." They said together.

I nodded and the trumpet blared, announcing the Rides' arrival.

The announcer stood by the huge oak doors to the ballroom and everybody turned to face him.

"Presenting, Princess Angel Ride, age six." Angel walked through the doors in a dark forest green velvet ball gown, her golden curls flowing around her face, her tiara placed on her head and her name necklace hanging around her neck. She was practically bouncing with excitement as she walked gracefully to the front of the room were my father was now sitting. She curtsied to him and stood of to the side. She noticed me and waved I gave a half smile and waved in return, making her beam happily.

"Presenting Prince Gazzy Ride, age eight." Gazzy walked in, wearing formal guys clothes in all black he did the exact same thing as his sister and went to go stand off to the side with her.

"Presenting Prince Iggy Ride age sixteen." Iggy walked in with a bored expression on his face, I could practically see girls drooling. He bowed to my father and stood next to Angel and Gazzy.

"Lastly," The announcer said.

"And definitely least." I heard Brigid mutter.

"We have Princess Maximum Ride, age sixteen." Max walked through with the same bored expression on her face that Iggy had. And god did she look beautiful. Her hair braided as usual but it hung over her shoulder, and she was wearing a dark grey almost black gown with red embroidery on the bodice. Her tiara placed slightly lopsided on her head and her necklace hung delicately around her neck.

Every single guy in that room had their jaws hanging open, every girl looked on in envy and her family snickered at their reactions. I didn't really find it funny though, I was about ready to rip every single guy in that room to shreds for even _thinking_ about Max.

She didn't curtsy to my father but she did go and stand by her family.

"Let the Ball begin!" My father said, and the instantly the orchestra began playing music and people filed onto the dance floor.

"Dude!" Jason and Sam looked at me, "What the _hell_ happened to _her_?" They asked.

"Who?" I asked stupidly, and they rolled their eyes.

"Max! She's hot!" Jason said. I shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?" Lissa said, "Max is the ugliest girl I have ever seen." She scoffed. Brigid nodded her head in agreement.

"She is sooo annoying and ugly, and mean." Brigid told us, "And she has no respect for a authority. And she thinks she's better than us when we all know she's not. And she's never had a boyfriend." Brigid rambled on.

"That's 'cause I don't need a sexist and perverted cocky jerk to make me happy, cousins." Max said from behind me. We all swiveled around and saw max with her siblings behind her, arms crossed over her chest as she glared.

Jason and Sam's jaw's dropped at seeing her up close and she ignored them.

"Max." Brigid said distastefully.

Max narrowed her eyes, "Spawn."

Brigid and Lissa glared.

"Alright girls break it up." Iggy said jokingly, and Max smiled slightly at her brother.

"Hi Lissa, Hi Brigid." Angel said sweetly, but with an evil glint in her eyes.

"Cousin Angel, you have grown so much!" Brigid said just as sweetly, but I could see the evident dislike of the small six year old in her green eyes.

"Yup, my mother says that if I grow a little bit more I could be taller than Gazzy!" She said gleefully, keeping up her sweet little girl charade.

"Good for you." Lissa said a bit bitterly.

"Watch how you speak to my sister Hatchet." Max snapped, picking up on it.

"Why don't make me Ride?" Lissa snapped back.

Max smirked, "You really want me to _make_ you? How about you and your sister wake up in the middle of a lake again? Let's see how you speak to my sister _then._" The two girls flinched and Max smiled in satisfaction.

"So Max right?" Sam said smoothly, "I'm Samuel but you can call me Sam." He looked at her hand intending to kiss it but she smoothly put it behind her back.

"Nice to see you again Sam." Max said sweetly, "But I haven't forgotten the worms you three put in mine and Iggy's pillowcases last time we were here. I don't intend to forget either. Next time you idiots pull a prank, and come to talk to me six years later expect a good punch in the gut." She said and Sam obediently backed away as Iggy, Gazzy and Angel snickered.

"I'm going to find Ella and Nudge, being near these two for more than five minutes is long enough." She said before walking off into the crowd. The twins glared after her.

"Gosh I hate her!" Brigid exclaimed stomping her foot like a two-year old.

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes, "The feeling is mutual cousins." He said and they glared.

"You guys do a lot of glaring don't you?" Gazzy pointed out and they glared again.

"Guys!" A girls voice called, she had black curly hair and mocha like skin with dark brown eyes, she was standing with a girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes and Max.

"Nudge!" Angel yelled running over to her and they hugged.

Max led to the two of them over to us her friend with the brown hair giggling all the way while Max rolled her eyes.

"Hi, I'm Ella." She said curtsying to Sam, Jason and I. We nodded.

"Ella." Brigid said with the same distaste she used for Max.

Ella narrowed her eyes like Max did, "Slut." Brigid gasped, "How dare you!" And she stomped off her sister in tow.

"Thank you Ella." Max said. Ella grinned, "Your welcome Max."

"So you're Prince Alton right?" the other girl Nudge said coming up to me, she looked about eleven years old.

I nodded and she smiled. "You don't talk much do you?" I shook my head and she smiled again.

"Oh well, I'm Nudge. Me and Ella are Max's cousins and we're gonna be staying here for awhile. Or at least until the war is over in our country, It must be really weird for you having all these people you don't know very well in your house. I know it would be for me, but you know Max and the others already so I guess it isn't as awkward but then again you and Max made each other's lives miserable so maybe it is awkward but I wouldn't know because I've never had someone make my life miserable and then see them again six years later. Oh, what do you think of Max now, she's gotten really pretty. Earlier me and Ella were laughing at all the other Princes' reactions when she walked in the room they were all like oh my god she is so pretty which she is because her eyes are like a milk chocolate brown and her dark brown hair has like natural little blonde sun streaks in it. But her personality is really great too y'know I mean she would do anything for her friends and she always stands up for everybody even she doesn't like them. Like once when we were little Lissa had spilled all over the floor in our Aunts castle on the new rug she ordered and Max was so nice and covered for her which of course got her in trouble but I thought it was really sweet because even though she doesn't like Lissa she still stood up for her, isn't that nice? I think Lissa had spilled grape juice, don't you just love grape juice? I have no idea why they call it that though because it doesn't even taste like grapes, but I guess you can't blame them because how do you make grape flavored juice right? Haven't you ever wondered who 'they' are though because you know everybody says 'they say' and what not and it gets kind of confusing 'cause who the heck are they? Right? And---" At this point Max covered Nudge's mouth with her hand.

"Sorry, Nudge talks a bit too much." Nudge flushed and Max let go of her.

"A bit?" I heard Iggy mutter. I half smiled.

"So anybody want to dance?" Sam said looking pointedly at Max. She rolled her eyes, "Uh nope sorry."

Jason rolled his eyes which had been trained on Ella since she had joined our little circle.

"Uh, hey Ella do you want to dance?" He asked shyly, she beamed and nodded her head. The two left so now it was: Me, Max, Nudge, Sam, Angel, Iggy and Gazzy.

"Hey Gazzy, you want to go find total and see if he'll eat people food?" Angel said.

"Ok, can we Max?" Gazzy asked. Max shrugged, "It's not my dog." She said.

And the two little kids turned on me, "Can we Fang?" They pleaded.

I nodded, "Knock yourself out." I said and they ran off to find total.

And now it was: Max, Me, Nudge, Iggy, and Sam.

"Uh, hey Nudge let's go… get something to eat!" Iggy grabbed his cousins arm and they walked away.

Now it was: Sam, me and Max. Awkward much?

"Uh, I'll just… go someplace else." Sam said and he scampered away.

Max sighed, "Why do I have a feeling that was unintentionally planned?"

I smirked, "Probably because it was." I answered, she rolled her eyes at me.

"Hey, do you want to dance?" I asked kinda nervously as I put my hand out. She grinned, "Sure." she said placing her soft delicate hand in mine.

We moved out onto the dance floor and began dancing a graceful waltz. Over Max's shoulder I saw my father giving me a bright smile and two thumbs up, causing me to immediately stiffen. But since I was usually stiff it didn't really make much of a difference, but Max noticed.

She looked at me, her beautiful eyes boring into mine. "What's wrong?" She asked cocking her head to the side cutely.

"Nothing." I muttered but as usual she saw right through my mask. She raised an eyebrow and leaned upward to whisper in my ear.

"We'll talk about this later." She said, her light breath making me shiver involuntarily. But it was barely noticeable, I mean so unnoticeable that the one person who could read me like a book couldn't tell. Three guesses as to who that person is.

She leaned back and we continued to dance, Max being so graceful and light on her feet. It was just another reason why-- Wait no, nothing. Forget that I even _began_ to think that.

The song ended, and I led Max off the dance floor.

"Well that was fun." Max said smiling, I smiled back and we just kinda stood there smiling at each other until Lissa and Brigid showed up.

"Hey Prince Alton!" They chorused together. I tore my gaze away from the beautiful princess in front of me to look at the two red-heads.

"Uh hi." I said, confused as to why they were talking to me.

"Hi, so we like saw you dancing with bitch and thought why not dance with one of us instead?" Brigid said smiling.

Max smirked, "'Cause you two can't dance." She said.

Lissa glared, "We can too." She said childishly.

Max raised her eyebrows, "Alright then, how about you go and have dance with Sam. If you're good, I'll leave and you can take Prince Fang to whatever doom you plan on dishing out, if you suck which you will then you and your clone stay away from me for the rest of the night."

Lissa glared, "Deal. But I'll have you know that I take dance lessons." She snapped before going onto the dance floor with Sam.

The music began to play and Lissa stumbled around in unpracticed and jerky movements while Sam who was a decent dancer blushed in embarrassment. Humiliated enough Sam dragged Lissa off the floor.

"What was that? That was the most terrible dancing I have ever seen!" Sam said, Lissa glared.

Max grinned, "I think we have an answer." Max said grinning, "So buh-bye."

Lissa and Brigid glowered at her before stalking off.

"Nice job." I said grinning, Max grinned back. "Thank you."

"So uh Max? I was just wondering---" Sam started looking flustered. Oh shoot he was gonna ask her out.

"Hey Max, wanna go for a walk in the garden?" I asked hastily. She looked at me oddly but nodded.

"See you Sam." She said as I led her outside to the castle garden.

"What was that about?" Max asked, once we were in the garden. In the middle of the garden had a huge fountain surrounded by blue and purple flowers. The night air was cool around us, and the garden was so quiet that even my quiet reply sounded loud, "He was going to ask you out." I whispered as we sat on one of the stone benches.

She whacked me playfully on the arm, "Yeah, but I'd never say yes to him. I told you I haven't forgotten the worms." She said smiling.

I looked at her, "Yeah but I was part of that too and yet here you sit." I said.

"Yup, but…you're different." She said just as quietly.

"How so?" I questioned.

She refused to look at me, "I dunno you just are." She said.

I smirked and she gave me a small smile.

"I have no idea why we even bothered making each others' lives miserable, you're actually really fun to hang out with." I said watching the water in the fountain flow.

She nodded, "It was easier just to hate each other than to fall in love like they wanted us too. I mean what were they thinking? We'd never fall in love, right?"

I looked at her, "That's the thing…" And that's when i kissed her.

**A/N Will Max run? Hahaha evil cliffy. Hope you guys like!**


	4. Fangs a STALKER!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but yes, I STILL have that stick.**

She moved her lips in sync with mine her hands tangled in my hair. And you know in those stupid teen magazines how they say you have fireworks when you kiss the person you love? Let me tell you, they aren't lying. Max's lips on mine felt so amazing I can't even begin to describe it. My hands gripped her waist and brought her closer, our heads moving this way and that. Finally oxygen was needed and we broke apart.

Max pulled back and we stared at each other. She stood up, "We should get back inside." She said. She completely ignored the kiss, well, alright if that's what she wanted I'll do the same.

"Yeah, it's getting dark." I said standing and walking out of the garden.

"Fang wait." Max called, from behind me, I stopped but didn't turn around.

"Look, um, well that kiss, it was great and all but I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Y'know after getting kicked out of my own country by my own mother, and the twins, and taking care my family, and now the kiss…I just-have a lot to deal with okay? I don't really think I'm ready for that yet." Max said. I turned to her and nodded, not trusting my self to speak. I couldn't help but think if it was Sam would she have been ready for a relationship then?

Max smiled and hugged me, "Thank you for understanding." She whispered before letting go and returning the castle for the rest of the ball. I grudgingly followed not really wanting to return to the world of stuck up royalty and my psycho father.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When we got back, it seemed as though nobody noticed we were gone, The ball was coming to a close and there was barely anyone left in the hall. I glanced around and saw Gazzy and Angel Ride, sitting up against a wall, Angel's head on Gazzy shoulder, Gazzy's head on Angel's, asleep. Iggy was still by the food table, downing countless cups of coffee to keep himself awake, while Nudge was talking animatedly beside him. It was obvious he wasn't listening.

Ella and Jason were still on the dance floor (two of the only people there), Sam was…somewhere and the twins were on their way out.

"Hey, Prince Fang!" I heard Brigid call out to me as she walked out, I grabbed Max's hand and Fast walked as far away from the exit as possible.

Max and Iggy managed to carry Angel and Gazzy up to bed as the rest of the guests filed out. Nudge was now gracing Sam, whom we found asleep under a table, with her amazing ability to speak, and Ella and Jason were STILL dancing.

Soon the hall was empty and i couldn't help but feel relieved as i trudged up the stairs to my room. When i reached the smokey gray double doors i pushed them open and walzted into my room. It was big, but which prince doesn't have a big room? A black and gray fourposter, king sized bed in the center, with my glass balcony doors to the right of and my wardrobe up against the left wall. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair and crossing the room to my balcony.

I stepped out side, reveling in the cool night air as i studied the millions of stars scattered throughout the pitch black sky. The silvery-white full moon shone brightly, creating a reflection on the surface of the lake below me, i glanced down, intent on watching to soft ripples through the water. But seeing something else. A small petite figure was sitting on a rock near the lake, their shoulders were hunched slightly, as if angry, or frustrated, or maybe stressed. I watched more closely and saw that it was Max, her brownish blond hair blowing around her face as she looked out over the lake her face looking aglow in the moonlight. I sighed, remembering the kiss as I watched her run her hands through her hair. A trumpet blared, and she jumped up, startled, it was the curfew trumpet, and she knew that, so she walked swiftly back towards the castle.

I don't know how long i stood there, watching the spot where she had sat, but eventually i turned around and slid back into my room.

I pulled in a sharp breath when i saw Max in there, sporting a forest green version of the nightgown she was wearing the night before, laying on my bed, flipping through one of the books i had left on the nightstand.

"Max." I greeted, hoping that i didn't show that she scared the crap out of me. She looked up, eyeing me warily.

"Fang." She greeted back, returning to the book.

"What are you doing here?" I asked cautiously. She closed the book watching me very carefully.

"You see, the _funniest_ thing happened tonight." She started, smiling slightly.

"Oh?" I asked, acting nonchalant as i walked over to my wardrobe and looked in the mirror beside it, seeing her still watching me in the reflection.

"Yeah, i was sitting out side, by the lake you know, and i saw something or someone on that balcony," She pointed to the glass doors a few feet away from my bed, "Watching me."

I could feel my eyes widening slightly and i shook it off, not answering her.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that _would you _Fang?" She asked, mock sweetly. I turned to her, my face slightly red from embarrassment, and looked her dead in the eye.

"Not in the slightest." I answered coolly.

She snorted softly, "Whatever Fang. Next time you're gonna stalk me, please give me some notification at least." My cheeks flamed, as she placed the book back on the night stand and sauntered over to me. "But it's okay, I think it's sweet that you would watch me--" she paused, "In an odd way of course." She smirked and planted a light kiss on my cheek, "Night Fang." And she skipped out of my room.

I groaned and flopped onto my bed, knowing that the worst case scenario had become a reality: I had fallen for the girl my father wanted me to kill.

**A/N I know it's short, but school has started and i won't be updating that frequently, sorry guys. Do you like it though? I did. : )**


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